Bored to Death premiered on HBO this past Sunday. Created by Jonathan Ames (author of I Love You More Than You Know and The Extra Man), the show stars Jason Schwartzman as Jonathan Ames who gets depressed and becomes a detective after placing a post on craigslist. It also features “that guy” from The Hangover and Ted Danson.

The pilot episode, I hate to say, wasn’t very good. There is no explanation given as to what caused Jonathan Ames (character) to impulsively become a detective. Apparently he is a struggling writing but you wouldn’t know that based on the first episode. You also don’t discover his name until midway through the episode. It would seem as if the show doesn’t care about the motivation of the characters and just wants to jump in to the crime solving.

The show tries to come of as being noir-inspired but I can’t tell if they are actually trying to mimic the noir genre or trying to lampoon it.

The trailer makes it look like this will be a fun series to watch, so I will end up stilling with it. It also helps that I like Jason Schwartzman.

Jonathan Ames (author) has a blog about the show which is interesting to read if you have seen the pilot episode. It explains a lot of the little details.

Did anybody else watch this show?

Since Paper Towns by John Green is released today in paperback and since I am giving away a copy for you to win (deadline is TODAY)…

Somewhere at some point, someone recommended this book to me. It was written down in my moleskin notebook and at some point transferred to my iPhone list. Whoever it was I’d like to say thanks.

Swish is the memoir-type book about the author, Joel, and his experiences with things that may be considered “rather gay”. Things like knitting, musical theater, and go-go dancing are covered in Joel’s passive quest to live up to his self-imposed title of “gayest person ever”. As he points out in the introduction, these stories may appear on the surface to the topic at hand but as I read through them, he digressed away from the topic and ended up telling a story that was much deeper. Knitting for example is about knitting, but it is also about his relationship with his mother. This was not what I was expecting. Based on the title I was anticipating something, how shall I put it, shallow. I expected stories about gay cheerleaders and go-go dancing but instead I was treated to stories about self-identification and go-go dancing.

At this point Swish may sound sappy. But did I mention that it is hilarious? Truly it is a good that I should not read in public because people will stare and wonder what is wrong with that giggling boy in the corner. Just reading the introduction along provides enough giggles to justify the purchase. Oh look! The you can read the introduction here! Go read it. Then go purchase this book.

Also, the paperback edition includes an introduction by Elton John while the hardcover, the version I purchased, lacks this. If you care about what Elton John has to say about Joel Derfner, then pick up that version. I, however, have an addiction to hardbound first editions.

Teddy over at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time is having a giveaway where you can win one of five copies of Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley. I read Buckley’s Boomsday and seen the film Thank You For Smoking which is based of a book he wrote. Both of which were pretty good.

Avast! Today be national talk like a pirate day. Arr. Celebrate by enjoying downloading Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 1 for free.

You could also seek out the following pirate themed books:
- The Pirates!: An Adventure with Scientists & An Adventure with Ahab
- Pirateology
- Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates
- A Pirate of Her Own

With the rain finally returning to Portland, I figured tonight would be a good night to visit Powells and sit in their coffee shop, sipping tea while reading various books. As always, I went in to Powells know exactly which book I wanted. In this case it was Generation X by Douglas Coupland. While browsing Coupland, I read the back of Mircoserfs and it sounded really good. I grabbed both books and headed to the coffee shop. Unfortunately everyone in Portland had the same idea and it was packed. Grr. So I decided to browse the store. I remembered an author I wanted to check out. Jonathan Amos I think was his name. I went to the As but couldn’t find him. Maybe I got his name wrong, I think to myself. Using one of their computers I searched for the only book title by Jonathan Amos that I knew, The Good Man. No results. Ok, I think. I have the author’s name and book title wrong. Whatever. I get over it and use IndieBound app on my iPhone to check my list of books. I discover that what I really meant was The Extra Man by Jonathan Ames. So close. I go back to the As and look one shelf up.On my list I saw that I had a book called Swish by Joel Derfner which seemed interesting. At one point I had five books in hand when really I just came in to buy one. In the end I walked out with Generation X and Swish.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
No. I would be too worrying about getting the pages of my book dirty.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
It horrifies me. If I need to write something down, I will write it down in my moleskin and make a note of what book and page whatever it is I have written refers to.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
Bookmarks. These consist of any random piece of paper I have near me when I need one. Past bookmarks include: bills, 3×5 cards, a dollar, and an actual bookmark.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Fiction with the occasional memoir.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Hard copy. Audiobooks I think are only good on road trips when you are the person driving.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
Ideally I would wait until the end of the chapter. It really depends on the book though.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
Nah. I try to figure out what it means through the context that it is used. If I can’t then I just continue reading.

What are you currently reading?
Currently re-reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

What is the last book you bought?
The Great Gatsby.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
I can read more than one at a time although I try to never be reading more than three books at any given moment.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
Early afternoon in the park. Or my balcony.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
Stand alone books.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
So far my most recommended book is I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell. I think I have purchased about ten copies of that book so far and given them to people claiming that they must read it.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
Wherever there is an empty spot on my shelves. In that past I had books grouped by genre, but I ran out of room.

My current TBR pile includes: Money Shot, You Have Killed Me, Erased, The Great Gatsby, Death is a Lonely Business We Did Porn, In Awe, Everything Matters!, Significant Others, How to be a Jewish Mother, The People of Paper, and fizz.

And because I’ve been playing The Beatles: Rock Band most of the weekend…

As part of BBAW a whole bunch of book bloggers agreed to interview each other. It was kind of like a secret santa of book blogging interviews. I was given Carleen over at White Readers Meet Black Authors a blog that specializes in books by African American authors.

What inspired you to start your blog White Readers Meet Black Authors?
Talking online with other black authors about the hurdles we face trying to market books to wider readership.

Did you blog before WRMBA?
Yes, I have a personal blog, The Pajama Gardener. There I write about writing and gardening, books, movies and other stuff.

How do you think a person’s race effects their writing?
I don’t know that race affects writing very much. Though there may be some differences in voice and characters, I think stories and people are universal.

Do you think book stores should create a special section specifically for African American authors?
I am of two minds about the African American fiction section. I think it has its benefits and its drawbacks, like just about everything in life. My blog readers seem to be either passionately for or against it.

What are some blogs that you regularly follow?
Blogging in Black, Color Online, The Bottom of Heaven, Galleycat, Pubrants, Editorial Ass, Diversity Rocks, Black Girl Lost in a Book, ringShout, Literary Obama.

What are some rules you try to follow when you blog?
Fairness. If I use info that I found on another site, I give whoever hipped me to it the credit.
Brevity. Though sometimes I break this rule, but I realize long posts are harder to read than shorter posts.